During the last several years, substantial attention has been paid to food related products in general, and the cooking industry in particular. In this regard, substantial attention has been devoted to products used to coat surfaces of cooking utensils, such as for baking, frying, sautéing, etc. In this regard, substantial attention has been paid in an attempt to develop a product capable of meeting consumer demand for a-healthy, low calorie product which is also capable of providing wide, uniformly dispersed spray coating on the surface being employed.
Typically, the surface of the cooking pot, pan, utensil, grill, etc. is manually coated with a release agent or sprayed with a release agent contained in a squeeze bottle, low pressure finger actuated pump, or aerosol container. However, the use of these prior art products typically results in the release agent being dispensed in discontinuous, non-uniform “spits” of product, or in dribbles of product. As s result, a raw, uneven spray pattern is typically achieved, which has caused these products to be commercially unacceptable.
In addition, the formulations of these pan release sprays often incorporate ingredients that health-oriented consumers wish to avoid. Consequently, many of these release products are not employed by such consumers due to their perceived deleterious health effects.
One product which has successfully overcome many of the major objections found in the prior art is taught in Stoltz U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,455,055 and 5,650,185. In the disclosure found in these patents, a non-aqueous, vegetable oil, liquid lecithin and ethanol composition is taught which is dispensed from a unique non-aerosol type container, achieving a cooking spray with substantially enhanced release properties as well as spray characteristics. However, in spite of the commercial success of this product in its ability to overcome many of the prior art difficulties, the caloric level of this product has not satisfied all health conscious individuals.
In the formulation employed in these prior art patents, as well as in numerous other prior art disclosures, lecithin is employed as a principal ingredient. The use of lecithin is well known and widely employed in a variety of products for varying purposes. Lecithin which occurs in just about all living cells is a natural phospholipid. Lecithin has been used for years as a lipophilic (fat or oil loving) emulsifying agent. In the trade lecithin is classified as an oil in water (O/W) emulsifier. The role of lecithin has changed in recent years due to many chemical modifications to become more useful to industry as dispersion and wetting agents, and lubricants, as well as their innate emulsifying properties. The source for commercial lecithin in many of its forms is the soybean.
Lecithin is a complex mixture of insoluble phospholipids consisting of phosphatidycholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), and phosphatidic acid (PA) combined with other triglycerides. Whereas, the fluid or liquid lecithins contain almost 40% triglycerides, new de-oiled, powder lecithins has been developed which contain an average of only 3% triglycerides. With the triglycerides or oily portion of lecithin removed, the percentage of glycolipids, PC, PE, PI and PA have increased in the de-oiled powder lecithin to render them water dispersible.
Historically, lecithins were predominately thick liquids having an amber to dark brown color. Liquid lecithin is not soluble or even dispersible in water. However, lecithins have undergone considerable chemical changes to be now commercially available as a dry, free-flowing powder and above all to be easily dispersed in water.
Lecithin has become a common chemical commodity that has been used in different industries as an emulsifying agent, for example. Lecithin is used in baked goods, sauces, marinades, instant drink mixes, snack foods, chewing gum and as a cooking spray pan release agent. Lecithin is used in a variety of personal products such as skin lotions, lipstick or even health foods for its choline amino acid content. In the present invention, lecithins surface active properties acts as a highly effective pan release agent.
In spite of the extensive use that has been made of lecithin in numerous prior art products, no pan release formulation has been developed which is capable of satisfying all of the consumer demands for a universally acceptable pan release spray product and delivery system. However, the present invention has been capable of meeting this demand and long felt need.